Czechs mark Jan Hus holiday in low key manner

Masses were held around the country on Monday commemorating the legacy of the 15th century reformer priest Jan Hus who was burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. Jan Hus (John Huss) was a Catholic priest and rector of the University of Prague who was strongly influenced by the teachings of the English reformer priest John Wycliffe. He translated Wycliffe’s works into Czech and proposed to reform the church in Bohemia just as Wycliffe had in England. He was excommunicated by the Catholic Church in 1411 before being condemned as a heretic and executed in Constance four years later.

July 6th is a public holiday in his memory and the event is marked by religious services, concerts, exhibitions and even theatre performances. This year the festivities were low key due to the floods but thousands of people attended the mass in his birthplace Husinec and in Prague’s Bethlehem Chapel were he preached.